Riding or racing your bike in another state or country is one of our sport’s great joys. Packing and traveling with your bike is one of our sport’s greatest nuisances. Unless you’re mechanically inclined (I’m not), disassembling your bike, wrapping it all up, and then—the worst part—reassembling it before your big event is daunting. That’s not to mention the hassle of hauling a giant-ass case through the revolving doors at the airport. That’s why Elite Cycling recruited its Pro Tour teams to help develop a travel bag that lets you travel like, well, a pro.

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The company scored a Champs-Elysées–level victory with the Borson, a super-roomy, lightweight, three-panel bag even nonwrenches can use with confidence. You barely have to remove a thing, just pedals and wheels (and the handlebar, if it’s a mountain bike). The rest packs up neatly and easily as is. Just secure the bike to the internal mounting frame, which accommodates both quick-release and thru-axle frames and forks. Cushion the sensitive parts like levers, rotors, and cassette with the padding and armour provided. Then slip your wheels (you can even bring a spare set) into the wheel bags. Zip it up. And you’re on your way.

Courtesy of Elite Cycles

The Best of Both Worlds

Through slick design and engineering, the Borson manages to deliver the weight and portability benefits of a soft travel case with the peace of mind you get from a hardshell model. The case is equipped with added reinforcement where you need it, such as extra armour in the right rear to protect the derailleur, plastic wheel guards with Velcro straps that fit around your hubs to cover the cassette and disc-brake rotors, and padded handlebar protectors to cushion the levers on drop-bar bikes. The bike neatly nestles between the wheel bags. When not in use, the whole shebang collapses down to the size of the bottom platform for easy storage.

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Easiest Bike Transport Ever

I put the Borson to the test on a trip from my Pennsylvania home to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I’d be racing my OPEN U.P.P.E.R. in the Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder across the peninsula. Preparing and packing for this 213-mile off-road odyssey was stressful enough, so I was super psyched to have bike packing be the least of my worries.

Initially nervous, I recruited the help of a mechanically adept friend, but it quickly became apparent that this was a job I could have handled on my own with minimal reference to the instruction manual. Once you have the system down, my guess is that you could pack up a road or cyclocross bike within 15 minutes. Mountain bikes might take longer, simply because you have to remove the handlebar.

Courtesy of Elite Cycles

The case is very light, so lifting it into the hatchback of my Subaru took little effort, and it’s highly maneuverable thanks to a combination of small, swivel caster wheels in the front and larger, stable roller wheels in the rear.

The only rub—which, depending on your faith in the airline industry, could be significant—is that airlines cover damage only if your bike is in a hardshell case. I had to sign a waiver releasing them from reliability should something happen. I requested a few fragile stickers and placed them on all sides and wasn’t terribly concerned. I’ve traveled with many soft cases over the years without incident and have always felt that at least the handlers are less likely to stack mounds of heavy baggage on top of a soft bag as opposed to a hard case. Plus, Pro Tour teams are trusting their featherlight carbon whips inside them. My bike arrived in Michigan and back home without incident.

If the hassles of packing up and hauling around a cumbersome bike case is one of the things that keeps you from traveling with your bike, the Borson could open up a whole new world of riding.

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